Ferry with 682 on board sinks after collision off Cebu

Indeed we are. I do wonder why the Philippines' domestic fleet is quite so ancient!

I manage seven 5,500 TEU boxboats that were delivered in 2001 and 2002 - we've just replaced the MF sets and are in the process of replacing the second set radars - VHFs are almost petty cash!

I broadly agree with your analysis except that I suspect neither ship was actually aware of their true position, and I put quite a lot of blame on the SToA for altering to port, which I don't think is within the spirit of R 17.

One report I read stated "Both Captains were unavailable for questioning by Police".
Taken into "Custody" by their employers.

If true then disgraceful - the norm here. :-((

Tom

It's not just their civilian fleet, almost all their military vessels are secondhand, mostly acquired from the US but with a couple of quite decent former Royal Navy Corvettes. It's as if there's a continuing post-war make-and-mend mentality where aged ships are employed until they sink - quite literally in many cases. That's good for making the rich even richer but Juan de la Cruz pays the penalty and gives the country a bad name abroad.

But you work for a responsible ship owner, Andrew, who doesn't want his vessels impounded in some foreign port on safety grounds. Filipino coastal trade ships are not subjected to the same rigorous inspections and their owners see little advantage in fitting the latest navigation and safety devices.

I do agree that as a collision avoidance procedure, a turn to port is seldom a good option. However in this particular case, I don't think the captain of the St Thomas of Aquinas had any other realistic option but to turn to port. He was faced with a slow-moving cargo ship transiting the traffic separation scheme in the wrong lane - that lane being adjacent to the southwest coast of Mactan Island and the infamous Lawis Ledge where the depth is only a few feet. He attempted to contact the Sulpicio Express Siete 7 on VHF Channel 16 several times but those transmissions were never received because the Sulpicio Express Siete's VHF set was tuned to Channel 12. One could argue that, as the "stand on" vessel, he should have maintained his course and speed and waited for the Sulpicio ship to alter course to starboard - which she did eventually but far too late. Had the ToA altered course to starboard, she would undoubtedly have run aground on Lawis Ledge and her momentum may have forced her into the ooze mud of the adjacent Mangrove swap - she was making 15 knots at the time. I suggest that no matter which option the ToA's captain decided upon, his ship was doomed. He chose the least worst option in my view and I think that will be the finding of the Marine Board of Inquiry.

In my reckless newbie days in the Philippines, I've travelled on two ferries and have no intention of ever travelling on a third. The first was a RoRo plying between Toledo (Cebu) and San Carlos (Negros); none of the vehicles were secured other than by a wooden chock and the lifejackets were stowed in padlocked metal bins. My companion mentioned the fact that I'm a former mariner to one of the officers and I was invited up to the Bridge. Although the radar antenna was happily rotating, nothing at all was visible on its screen and the only navigation chart was of a large scale showing the whole of Negros and Cebu islands published by the US Hydrography Service circa 1946. I've also been on a "Supercat" from Cebu to Bohol and back. Nothing particularly "super" or "cat" about it but at least there were lifejackets, inflatable type, vintage unknown and condition dubious. It broke down just as we were entering Cebu Port and we had to wait for an hour for a tow from one of its sister ships.

Back to this collision. Both the SunStar and Cebu Daily News have covered yesterday's hearing which includes this journalistic gem of tortured English:

Interestingly, the Third Officer of the St Thomas of Aquinas told the Board that there are weekly safety drills - as required by international regulations - but other crew members said they could not remember the last occasion such a drill took place. Now I think it's fair to say that were these drill to take place on passage, alarm and confusion would spread amongst the passengers some of whom might believe the ship is about to sink, don lifejackets and jump overboard.

The Police don't have jurisdiction over maritime accidents as the Police are not qualified to investigate them whereas the Coastguard is. The Police may be called upon to arrest and detain those adjudged to be culpable once the Board of Marine Inquiry has delivered its findings, however.

Interesting. Here, everything stops until the police and HSE have carried out investigations.

Not in the case of incidents involving shipping: the Marine Accident Investigation Branch - part of the Department of Transport - has jurisdiction.

There is no 'Elf-n-Safety executive here in the Philippines.

How right you are. A friend gets very angry at the import into the Philippines of construction machinery and buses from Japan - these are imported and declared as "scrap" to avoid the Customs duties but are of course auctioned off for years of further use. This makes it impossible for any decent contractor to bring in new, safe, machinery - it's Juan de la Cruz who gets hurt...

In the case of floating rigs, aswell as other rigs at sea, it does in the UK. I am guessing that would include drillships which are ships with a drilling derrick added etc. I assumed ships came under that umbrellla?

There was a cruise ship moored up in Douglas Bay today. It was doing a cruise around the British Isles apparently. Some passengers got off to have a go on the local steam train.

The Crystal Serenity.

The cruise ship carried out a "3 point turn" and not a puff of black smoke was visible.

I am not terribly surprised. The Crystal Serenity is a modern French-built luxury cruise liner built in 2003 and had a major refit in 2011.

I bet the steam train "smoked" though

Of course....

The following, rather interesting, article appeared in today's SunStar:

Pilotage Exemption Certificates, issued on examination, and for a limited period, might be a solution for ferries.

2Go do employ Pilots and one was on his way to the St Thomas of Aquinas when she was involved in a collision with Sulpicio Express Siete. There was no Pilot on the Sulpicio vessel however.

I was worried that my ex-fiancee could have been aboard that ferry. She travels between Siquijor and Cebu and the south Bohol route the ferry took could have meant that it stopped at Siquijor en-route.

Her first fiance died in a ferry disaster. I don't know which one, but it certainly was not the one in 1987. More likely around 2000-2002.

What can an individual do other than avoid night travel, avoid prospective bad weather to reduce the chances of experiencing such an accident and staying on deck wearing a life jacket to improve survival chances should such an accident occur?

And what sort of life jacket can one wear all the time in such a climate, that can easily be carried in hand luggage and where could I get her such a lifejacket? She is 4' 11" and weighs around 45kg.

I assume it would have to be inflatable and probably self-inflating, but not one that would self-inflate in rain or splashes during heavy weather. I think it would be used on around a dozen return trips between Siquijor and Cebu each year.

You might contact the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in the UK. Inflatables are the best way to go and can be worn under, say, a loose rainjacket.

For helicopter flights to the rigs in the North Sea ( topical after the recent crash ) we all used inflatables that we wore for the entire journey - anything from 10 minutes to 3 hours or so.

The life jacket would inflate at the pull of a toggle. Or could be manually or orally inflated. There is, fitted, a small cylinder of compressed air or CO2 that is sufficient to inflate it. A rebreather breathing aid, in case you need it under water, became compulsory late on.

When worn before inflation it was relatively unobtrusive. I have worn them in the water and they work okay.

I would imagine they are not cheap.

I used to know the name of the one we used as we always had to watch a pre flight video on its usage, before every flight. I havent worn one for 6 years so have forgotten the name RFD something or other.

All on board the recent flight that crashed off Shetland would have been wearing one. They are mandatory and provided by the helicopter service company. Additionally a survival suit is worn which adds to bouyancy but is mainly worn to provide insulation so probably less necessary in tropical waters though I imagine that even in tropical waters one would still lose body heat after a period of time.

Each inflatable life jacket comes complete with a whistle, light that is activated by seawater and a splash cover for the face.

Some will automatically inflate in contact with water. We never used them as the idea was never to inflate them before exiting from the helicopter which in most cases would be partially submerged and upside down after ditching into the sea. It would be impossible to get out of the window with an inflated lifejacket, the window being the quickest route of escape.

This one is not unlike ones I have worn and actually used.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=r...AA&biw=1024&bih=672#biv=i|4;d|_ioBQbdi9ai8oM:

Tomorrow's printed copy of SunStar will contain the following story entitled "2Go, Sulpicio asked: Prove you deserve to keep operating":

Good.

You may say that, John, but in actuality 2Go is the least bad of all the ferry operators here - 2Go Travel was formerly known as "SuperFerry" and some of its ships are actually rather nice and quite modern. If 2Go loses its operating licence and franchise - and all its marine staff are stripped of their qualifications - then this will cause real problems for ordinary Filipinos particularly as that may well happen in advance of the busy Christmas/New Year travel period. How will they be able to travel to the provinces to see their families?

Reading the reports, it's clear to me (as a former master) that the 2Go captain did take the right course of action - all things considered. He did order a Harbour Pilot to assist him navigate the narrow channel leading to Cebu port but there was no Pilot on board the Sulpicio ship and had there been, that ship would not have been in the wrong lane and the collision would not have taken place. Cebu Port authority must shoulder some of the responsibility as the Traffic Separation Scheme used to enter and leave the port is completely unmarked - the channels are not delimited by marker buoys. Indeed Marina has some responsibility also: it isn't enforcing the requirement that all vessels over 500 DWT employ Harbour Pilots.